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Bench top Surface Grinder
- Thread starter pi_guy
- Start date
tool_scrounge
Well-known member
Sanford sg-48. Not usually cheap on the used market.
I have thought about a home made solution and come across some pictures showing what I was considering. I doubt I will ever go through the hassle but it boils down to securely locating a bench grinder and xy table to one another, tramming the whole thing up and not grinding anything super critical!
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Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk
A cobbled together one would not work.
The accuracy would not be there.
I am grinding shims for gearboxes and diffs.
Went to look at one yesterday, I offered 1/2 of what he was asking there was 1/4 of play in table. I was willing to gamble that I could fix it. Was not 100% happy with unit, instead of grinding wheel moving down the table traveled in all three directions.
The accuracy would not be there.
I am grinding shims for gearboxes and diffs.
Went to look at one yesterday, I offered 1/2 of what he was asking there was 1/4 of play in table. I was willing to gamble that I could fix it. Was not 100% happy with unit, instead of grinding wheel moving down the table traveled in all three directions.
MushCreek
Well-known member
I bought an older but serviceable Harig 612 for $250 at an auction. I never thought of it, but it could be put on a sturdy bench. Most smaller surface grinders just sit on the base cabinet. Mine even came with the magnetic chuck! Surface grinders are cheap around here for some reason. Milling machines, on the other hand, are like gold. Probably because I'm looking for one...
A cobbled together one would not work.
The accuracy would not be there.
I am grinding shims for gearboxes and diffs.
About how thick would an average shim be that you are making?
There is no average at this point. All of the gearboxes are one of a kind, you could not just swap shafts, gears and hubs to the same type case but different one with out measuring and machining to fit. Then you would need to set shift forks
Often it is a combination of shims to make needed tolerance and you would if you need to loose .005 take a .075 and wack .005 off it.
The smallest shim you can machine is about .050 otherwise you get the flying object syndrome.
I stock quite a few shims as you really can not machine .012 SS shim with out difficulties.
Often it is a combination of shims to make needed tolerance and you would if you need to loose .005 take a .075 and wack .005 off it.
The smallest shim you can machine is about .050 otherwise you get the flying object syndrome.
I stock quite a few shims as you really can not machine .012 SS shim with out difficulties.
There is no average at this point. All of the gearboxes are one of a kind, you could not just swap shafts, gears and hubs to the same type case but different one with out measuring and machining to fit. Then you would need to set shift forks
Often it is a combination of shims to make needed tolerance and you would if you need to loose .005 take a .075 and wack .005 off it.
The smallest shim you can machine is about .050 otherwise you get the flying object syndrome.
I stock quite a few shims as you really can not machine .012 SS shim with out difficulties.
Reason I asked is that grinding shims that thin can be a challenge.
You will need plenty of coolant and plenty of patience and plenty of luck.
SS won't work obviously because it won't stick to the magnet.
Please let us know how you make out.
Seriously, let us know.
I will keep you posted, but it is not something I have not observed my partner doing.
Just to be clear I am not grinding .250 down to .050 it would be more like .074 taken down to .069. I have used surface grinder for other items in several shops. This one is new to me and from speaking to a few machinery reps at PRI this machine is perfect for shims.
Anyway the first thing I do before I use the grinder is see if they are available commercially in various thickness. But in the process of setting up boxes I use dummy bearing and and for those shims that must be ground I make dummy shims <alum>to use during measuring process.
Do you have any experience machining shims to size? Or a need to do such thing?
Just to be clear I am not grinding .250 down to .050 it would be more like .074 taken down to .069. I have used surface grinder for other items in several shops. This one is new to me and from speaking to a few machinery reps at PRI this machine is perfect for shims.
Anyway the first thing I do before I use the grinder is see if they are available commercially in various thickness. But in the process of setting up boxes I use dummy bearing and and for those shims that must be ground I make dummy shims <alum>to use during measuring process.
Do you have any experience machining shims to size? Or a need to do such thing?
MushCreek
Well-known member
You can grind some pretty thin stuff with the right wheels, coolant, and tricks of the trade. I've ground thin pieces on double-sided tape, and also using a vacuum chuck. Patience, patience. After all, when you buy a paper-thin shim, SOMEbody ground it.